Valerie Lee, who appeared in the comedy shorts Our Gang and as one of the Munchkins Wizard of OzHe died. It was 94.
Stephen Cox, author of the 1996 book, died Sunday in Reseda Munchkins of OzAnnounce.
Born Valerie Shepard in Los Angeles on December 14, 1931, Lee was one of dozens of young men hired mostly from the Bud Murray School of Dance in Los Angeles to play villagers in Munchkin in the 1939 masterpiece, and she celebrated her seventh birthday at the MGM Arena in Culver City.
For her film debut, Lee donned Shirley Temple blonde hair and a pink and lavender dress and hat and danced alongside Munchkins young and old as they led Dorothy Judy Garland out of Munchkinland.
Some fans referred to her and the other children featured in the film as “Munchkids.”
After that, she appeared in short comedies like Our Gang Time out for lessons (1939), Oh old minstrels (1941), Do their duty (1942), Benjamin Franklin Jr. (1943), Election shock (1943) and dancing romeo (1944).
She cherished her memories geese She shared it with fans who contacted her in later years, Cox noted.
“I remember one day Bert Lahr was on set, but not in the Cowardly Lion costume,” she recalls. “He dropped a [little people] into his lap and begin performing an imaginary ventriloquist routine for all of us.
After Hollywood, Lee attended Los Angeles City College, spent more than 25 years working and managing a bookstore at Cal State Northridge and was featured in the 2024 TV documentary Oz Mysteries: 85 Questions Answered.
She was married to Robert Hines, a longtime employee of Broadway Stores, from 1949 until his death in 2002, and they had three children, Elise, Sharon, and Larry. Survivors also include her sister, Pamela. grandchildren Jennifer, Elizabeth, Richard and Corinne; And two of his grandchildren.
According to Cox, 96-year-old Priscilla Montgomery Clark, another Munchkin child, is the last living person to appear in Wizard of Oz.
